Sunday, January 31, 2010

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston

Mike Reiss in my opinion is the best writer covering the Patriots right now. He is currently working at ESPNBoston.com. If you want the latest information you need to read his columns.

I just had the pleasure of being at my congregation's Sports Breakfast. The keynote speaker was Mr. Reiss. His knowledge on the Pats is vast. He is well known for his blog when he worked at the Boston Globe called"Reisse's Pieces. Recently he has moved over to ESPN Boston to write on their site, but also to be a part of the entire ESPN family. You might have seen him on First Take on ESPN 2 or maybe on NFL Countdown on ESPN.

He started off speaking about his background starting at Patriots Football Weekly for 2 years. He mentioned that his dream job was to be working for the Boston Globe. Before his dream job he went to work for the Metro West Daily News. This is the first time I really saw his blog. After getting his experience he finally got his shot at the Boston Globe. He did not though cover the Patriots at first. He was covering high school sports.

At the Globe he asked them if he could still write his blog about the Patriots. They allowed him to start writing his Reisse's Pieces blog again. He eventually got to cover the Patriots full time. Mike was showing up everywhere from radio to television.

The Boston Globe in 2009 went up for sale and the paper's survival at the time was an uncertainty. Mike then got a great opportunity to be a Patriots writer on a new website called ESPNBOSTON.COM. As I mentioned, this has opened up opportunities for him on all media levels that ESPN offers.

Being from my hometown of Framingham where I grew up it was great to hear his story. More important to me as a Pats fan is his knowledge of football and the Patriots. I would recommend to all fans to check out Mike Reiss regularly on ESPN Boston.

Finally, I learned what it means when a reporter says information is "off the record". He did open the floor to questions. He did ask me not to publish details on my blog which I will not. I will say this is that he is very fair on the Pats. He will criticize them when it is warranted.He will also praise them when they deserve it.